-PTI Retail inflation shot up to the double digit mark at 10.32 per cent in April on account of substantial increase in vegetable, edible oils and milk prices. Based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the inflation for March was revised to 9.38 per cent from the provisional estimate of 9.47 per cent, as per the government data release here on Friday. Vegetable prices recorded the maximum of 24.55 per cent, followed by...

If inflation has broken the back of the aam aadmi, the biggest contributor to the pain in the UPA's term is food prices. Government data on wholesale price index (WPI) shows that there has been a 63% increase in the price of all commodities between April 2004, a month before UPA took charge, and April 2012, the latest period for which data is available. But when it comes to food products,...

-The Economic Times Soaring vegetable prices pushed inflation higher in April, while fuel and manufactured product prices sustained their pressure posing a fresh policy challenge and announcing the return of price pressures in Asia's third-largest economy. Data released by the commerce & industry ministry on Monday showed the annual rate of inflation, based on monthly wholesale price index, stood at 7.23% for April, 2012, compared to 6.89% for the previous month and...

-The Economist An absence of optimism plays a large role in keeping people trapped in poverty THE idea that an infusion of hope can make a big difference to the lives of wretchedly poor people sounds like something dreamed up by a well-meaning activist or a tub-thumping politician. Yet this was the central thrust of a lecture at Harvard University on May 3rd by Esther Duflo, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute...

Petition  seeks comprehensive policy on production, supply and sale of healthy, hygienic and natural milk The Supreme Court on May 9 sought a response from the apex food body, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and the states regarding milk adulteration and production of synthetic milk. The three-judge bench sought their response on the public interest petition filed by Swami Achyutanand Tirth on behalf of the Swami Bhumanand...